There's Always Something...

New Blog? Maybe...

For quite some time, I haven't been using Wordpress for my blog. I'll be experimenting with it again as I understand it is vastly improved!

http://citrus.wordpress.com

Retirement. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Here's a great article by blogger buddy Ronni. By great I mean, "my feelings exactly".

http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2010/09/cool-things-about-being-retired.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TimeGoesBy+%28TIME+GOES+BY%29

Coming Soon...

Only a few weeks now and I'll be able to get back into the desert with my trusty Nikon. The temperatures are getting back to the range where a guy can survive. No, not survive, enjoy!

(photo by RB) 

Drugstore...

Garrison Keillor shares this interesting little poem this morning. Worth a read - and then another!

Drugstore

by Carl Dennis

Don't be ashamed that your parents

Didn't happen to meet at an art exhibit

Or at a protest against a foreign policy

Based on fear of negotiation,

But in an aisle of a discount drugstore,

Near the antihistamine section,

Seeking relief from the common cold.

You ought to be proud that even there,

Amid coughs and sneezes,

They were able to peer beneath

The veil of pointless happenstance.

Here is someone, each thought,

Able to laugh at the indignities

That flesh is heir to. Here

Is a person one might care about.

Not love at first sight, but the will

To be ready to endorse the feeling

Should it arise. Had they waited

For settings more promising,

You wouldn't be here,

Wishing things were different.

Why not delight at how young they were

When they made the most of their chances,

How young still, a little later,

When they bought a double plot

At the cemetery. Look at you,

Twice as old now as they were

When they made arrangements,

And still you're thinking of moving on,

Of finding a town with a climate

Friendlier to your many talents.

Don't be ashamed of the homely thought

That whatever you might do elsewhere,

In the time remaining, you might do here

If you can resolve, at last, to pay attention.

"Drugstore" by Carl Dennis, from Callings. © Penguin Poets, 2010. Reprinted with permission.

Independent Living...

We live in a life-care community that features independent living, meaning that we live in a Casita, a free-standing very nice home that is almost identical to what we lived in before - except we don't own it. We have a life-time lease on it - plus all kinds of privileges regarding meals (if we want them), special events, magnificent swimming pool and other recreational facilities plus life-care benefits. It is a bit of heaven and costs a tad less than what we used to pay for home ownership and independent living just a few miles away.

One of the nice features that goes along with our community is the worry free maintenance of the property. No lawn to mow, snow to shovel, repairs to make or appliances to repair or replace. It is all taken care of for us.

Why bring all this up? Yesterday we had an interesting experience. Our microwave oven began making strange, groaning sounds. Jo Ann made a call to the front office and reported this (plus a sluggish drain in the bathroom) about 1 PM. 

By 4 PM the microwave was replaced with a brand new one and the drain was fixed. No cost. Included in the plan.

We're both extremely pleased as you might imagine. We shake our heads at what we would be going through before we moved to Colonnade some 3 years ago!

Just to Celebrate Her...

Jo Ann...

(photo by RB) 

"Wannabe cool" Christianity...

I relish the weekly word and sacrament. Something special blesses and burns and feeds me in our wonderful church. It's authentic Christianity.

(Sedona Chapel. Photo by R.B.) 

It is never easy for me to swallow the super-cool compromises made by so many churches "to appeal to the kids." The adjustments so often cross the line of creating a church that has no apparent relationship with genuine Christianity. 

It was with great interest that I read this Wall Street Journal piece on the subject. 

What do you think?

Mystery Church...

Last time we were in Massachusetts, I captured several photos of a striking church a block away from where we were staying. I've loved editing and creating this photo - while never forgetting the unforgettable and deeply personal trip.

Contest: who can identify the denomination and the location of the church?

 

"THE LAST THING"

"The Last Thing" 

by

Monk Gibbon

Who'd be afraid of death?

I think only fools are.

For it is not

as though this thing were given to one man only,

but all receive it.

The journey that my friend makes,

I can make also.

If I know nothing else,

I know this,

I go where he is.

O Fools, shrinking from this little door,

through which so many kind and lovely souls have passed before you,

will you hang back?

Harder in your case than another?

Not so.

And too much silence?

Has there not been enough stir here?

Go bravely,

for where so much greatness and gentleness

have been already,

you should be glad to follow.

(Discovered in Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir by Stanley Hauerwas, a fine book if there ever was one.)

Desert Image

I love shooting desert photos. Here's one reason why.